Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-03-31.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been subject to (a) restorative justice and (b) non-committal to prison in each of the last three years; and for what range of offence.

Jeremy Wright

The Government is committed to ensuring that restorative justice is victim-focused, of a good quality and available at all stages of the criminal justice system across England and Wales.

Restorative justice is a process that can be used at any stage of the criminal justice system, either alongside or as part of a formal out of court disposal or sentence. Restorative justice is potentially available for any offence, provided both the victim and offender consent and have been assessed as suitable by a trained facilitator. The use of restorative justice should not lead to offenders escaping punishment and we expect crimes of a serious nature to continue to be progressed through the courts.

Information about the numbers of victims or offenders who are invited to participate in a restorative justice programme, or take up that offer, is not collated centrally. Statistics on non-custodial and custodial sentences are published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice and are available at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/statistics.

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